The morning sun didn't just rise; it attacked me.
Even through my eyelids, the light felt like a physical weight. My brain was still trying to process the night before. I was dead. I was in Paris. I was a superhero. And right now, the sound of a distant scooter felt like a drill spinning against my skull.
"Finn, you're doing it again," a soft, squeaky voice whispered near my ear.
I opened one eye. Axel was floating inches from my nose, looking concerned. He wasn't glowing as brightly as he had during the fight, looking a bit faded, like a battery that needed charging.
"I can't... I can't turn it off, Axel," I groaned, pulling the thin blanket over my head. "The Apex Instinct. I can hear the neighbors breathing. I can smell the mold in the walls. It's too much."
"Focus on me," Axel commanded, his voice firm. "Zero gave you the power of the wolf, but wolves aren't just about sharp ears. They are about focus. A wolf doesn't listen to the whole forest; he listens to the one deer he's tracking. Pick one sound. My voice. Tune out the rest."
I gripped the mattress, my knuckles turning white. I focused on the sound of Axel's tiny, fluttering wings. Slowly, the world quieted. The crushing pressure in my head receded, leaving only a dull ache that my healing factor quickly erased.
"Better?" Axel asked.
"Better," I whispered, sitting up. I looked at the little creature, then at the silver ring on my finger. A thought that had been bothering me since the void finally bubbled to the surface.
"Axel?" I asked, my brow furrowing. How exactly are you a part of this world now?
The Kwami tilted his head. "What do you mean, pup?"
"I know this world," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've seen the stories. There's a Ladybug, a Black Cat, a Butterfly... there's a whole box of Miraculouses. But there was never a Wolf. Not in the main set. You shouldn't exist in this version of Paris. I wish for you so exactly. How are you apart of this world ?
Axel's silver eyes flashed with a deep, ancient wisdom. He landed on the wooden table, looking small but powerful. "You're thinking like a human who watched a show. But this is a universe, Finn. It's vast. Thousands of years ago, there wasn't just one box of Miraculouses. There were many."
He paced back and forth on the table. "The Wolf is part of a forgotten set—The Primal Pack. We represent the raw instincts of the earth. The Order of the Guardians thought we were too wild, too hard to control. They didn't put us in their pretty little octagon box. They tried to bury us. Zero found me drifting in the slipstream of reality and brought me here to meet you."
I swallowed hard. "So I'm an anomaly. A glitch in the system."
"Exactly," Axel smirked. after using a special power be careful. The more you use the Wolf's power, the more the animal takes over. If you lose control, you become a beast. That's why the Guardians feared us."
I looked at the envelope Zero left for me. Inside were documents a French ID, a passport, and an enrollment form for Collège Françoise Dupont.
"So, I'm a student again," I muttered. "In the same class as Marinette and Adrien. Zero really wants a front-row seat to the drama."
"It's a good cover," Axel said, flying over to a bowl of crackers. "Plus, Hawk Moth targets teenagers with high emotions. If you want to find the Akumas before they happen, school is the best place to be."
I stood up I put on a dark hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. I slipped the silver ring onto my finger.
"Ready for your first day of school, Finn?" Axel asked, disappearing into my hoodie pocket.
"No," I said, checking my reflection. I saw a ghost in the mirror a boy who died in a living room, now standing in a world of a cartoon .
I stepped out of the attic and into the streets of Paris. As I approached the gates of Françoise Dupont, my Sixth Sense gave a tiny, playful tingle. Not danger, but a warning.
I turned just in time to see a girl with blue pigtails sprinting toward the gate, tripping over her own feet. I reached out, my reflexes blurred. I caught her by the elbows, steadying her. My nose was flooded with the scent of flour and sugar.
"You okay?" I asked.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng looked up at me, her blue eyes wide. "I uh yes! I'm fine! I'm late! I'm Marinette! I mean thank you!"
This was her. Ladybug. And right behind her, a silver car was pulling up. Adrien. I was standing right in the middle of the story.
"I'm Finn," I said, giving her a small smile. "New student. I think we're in the same class."
The hunt for a new life had truly begun
Go check out my other books